Report echoes next-gen MacBook Air production, adds iPad 3 display rumors
A new report corroborates earlier indications that Apple will begin production of revamped MacBook Air notebooks this month, while also adding an unverified tip on a high-resolution iPad 3 reportedly coming later this year.
Taiwan's Economic Daily said on Tuesday that Apple will begin selling the new MacBook Air in late June with an initial shipment of 380,000 units, as noted by Reuters. That report, however, appears to have recycled information from an exclusive AppleInsider report by citing "industry sources."
Last week, AppleInsider was first to report that Apple had placed orders for 380,000 Sandy Bridge-based MacBook Airs this month, with the 11.6-inch models comprising roughly 55 percent of the shipment.
According to the Economic Daily, when shipments of the new MacBook Airs are combined with shipments of the existing model, 460,000 units are expected to be produced this month. However, AppleInsider cannot confirm a sell date of late June.
Over the weekend, one tipster claimed that revitalized MacBook Airs would arrive this week, but eventually revised his story to suggest that Apple would actually begin carrying unlocked iPhone 4s at Apple Stores in the U.S.
The report also claimed that Apple will launch the iPad 3 in the fourth quarter with "image resolution 5-6 times higher than iPad 2." But, it should be noted that the rumor appears highly unlikely and is reported here for the sake of completeness.
While numerous reports of an upgraded iPad 3 with a doubled resolution of 2048 x 1536 already exist, the resulting display would have four times the amount of pixels. Various sources have also hinted that the iPad 3 will not arrive until 2012.
Apple has reportedly begun certifying components for the iPad 3, but component makers expect the device to come out next year.
Taiwan's Economic Daily said on Tuesday that Apple will begin selling the new MacBook Air in late June with an initial shipment of 380,000 units, as noted by Reuters. That report, however, appears to have recycled information from an exclusive AppleInsider report by citing "industry sources."
Last week, AppleInsider was first to report that Apple had placed orders for 380,000 Sandy Bridge-based MacBook Airs this month, with the 11.6-inch models comprising roughly 55 percent of the shipment.
According to the Economic Daily, when shipments of the new MacBook Airs are combined with shipments of the existing model, 460,000 units are expected to be produced this month. However, AppleInsider cannot confirm a sell date of late June.
Over the weekend, one tipster claimed that revitalized MacBook Airs would arrive this week, but eventually revised his story to suggest that Apple would actually begin carrying unlocked iPhone 4s at Apple Stores in the U.S.
The report also claimed that Apple will launch the iPad 3 in the fourth quarter with "image resolution 5-6 times higher than iPad 2." But, it should be noted that the rumor appears highly unlikely and is reported here for the sake of completeness.
While numerous reports of an upgraded iPad 3 with a doubled resolution of 2048 x 1536 already exist, the resulting display would have four times the amount of pixels. Various sources have also hinted that the iPad 3 will not arrive until 2012.
Apple has reportedly begun certifying components for the iPad 3, but component makers expect the device to come out next year.
Comments
2048x1536 is the obvious resolution upgrade for the iPad. I expect it will come in 2012 or 2013 and I will buy one when it becomes available.
Hopefully with a lighter and smaller model than the 11.6-inch for true Mac mobility.
Zunx I give you credit for your persistence and your one man campaign for a 7 inch Mac in your pocket for making presentations but it's just not going to happen. Why?
- You can now use the pocketable iPhone 4 for presenting on an external display in conjunction with Keynote for iOS and the Apple Digital AV Adapter.
- Steve Jobs himself said Netbooks aren't better at anything yet you're calling for Apple to create a seven inch netbook.
- The OQO Windows machine in your pocket, a device with a wider market appeal than an OS X device, was a commercial failure.
The 11 inch Macbook Air is an extremely light and capable device. You're likely to be carrying paper handouts for your presentation anyway, are you telling us all it's too much of a stretch to carry an 11" Macbook Air with them too?Sales figures for iPads and netbooks reinforce Steve Job's statement.
I really hope Apple offer a 15" MacBook Air. I would buy one in a heartbeat.
2048x1536 is the obvious resolution upgrade for the iPad. I expect it will come in 2012 or 2013 and I will buy one when it becomes available.
It's so obvious that reporting something different with a reason why (attain true retina display at the given screen size) adds some credence to the report.
What would Apple do? They would want a true retina display. If that meant using a 2560x1920 display over a 2048x1536 display, then so be it. 2.5x in each dimension isn't the worst scaling ratio, especially when the target resolution is so high that perceiving the scaling from 1024x768 would be very difficult.
The fact that they said 5-6x higher really hurts their creditably. The way the OS frameworks currently work it has to double in both directions.
I am not so sure about that - the proportions have to be maintained but not necessarily a doubling.
if ([view respondsToSelector:@selector(setContentScaleFactor : )])
{
view.contentScaleFactor = [[UIScreen mainScreen] scale];
}
What this is doing is setting the scale on a view - which takes most of the custom drawing - to be the same as the scale on the mainScreen, which is returned from the frameworks. 2.0 for retina, 1.0 for normal.
I see nothing to indicate it cant be 1.5, or 2.2.
I see nothing to indicate it cant be 1.5, or 2.2.
In Drawing and Printing Guide for iOS it says:
"In iOS 4 and later, the UIScreen, UIView, UIImage, and CALayer classes expose a scale factor that tells you the relationship between points and pixels for that particular object. Before iOS 4, this scale factor was assumed to be 1.0, but in iOS 4 and later it may be either 1.0 or 2.0, depending on the resolution of the underlying device. In the future, other scale factors may also be possible."
In Drawing and Printing Guide for iOS it says:
"In iOS 4 and later, the UIScreen, UIView, UIImage, and CALayer classes expose a scale factor that tells you the relationship between points and pixels for that particular object. Before iOS 4, this scale factor was assumed to be 1.0, but in iOS 4 and later it may be either 1.0 or 2.0, depending on the resolution of the underlying device. In the future, other scale factors may also be possible."
which makes my point, I think.
What would Apple do? They would want a true retina display. If that meant using a 2560x1920 display over a 2048x1536 display, then so be it. 2.5x in each dimension isn't the worst scaling ratio, especially when the target resolution is so high that perceiving the scaling from 1024x768 would be very difficult.
Indeed, assuming such displays are available at a sensible price that would make a lot of sense. The one thing Apple shouldn't do is introduce a 2048x1536 screen this year and a 2560x1920 screen next year. That kind of needless increase in the number of models that App designers need to handle would blur the lines between iOS and Android, in terms of fragmentation.
Hopefully with a lighter and smaller model than the 11.6-inch for true Mac mobility.
For most people an iPhone or iPad does just as well. That is an ultra mobile device that fits in a pocket and does multiple things is far more useful than a device running Mac OS/X.
The fact that they said 5-6x higher really hurts their creditably. The way the OS frameworks currently work it has to double in both directions.
Apples documentation is very clear on this. While current devices use multipliers of 1 & 2 there is nothing to prevent other multiples.
The only thing that the current nice even multipliers do is make it easy on everyone when it comes to bit maps. Drawn objects are no problem at any resolution because they are not specified in pixels. IOS is resolution independent right now.
Other multiples are possible but 2x has the huge advantage of providing a nice compatibility mode for older apps.
Hopefully with a lighter and smaller model than the 11.6-inch for true Mac mobility.
11.6 is already too small. It will never be smaller. Deal with it or buy a 7" EeePC and Hackintosh it.
The pixel density required to achieve a "retina display" depends on the distance from the eye to the display. I posit that phones are held nearer than iPads and therefore 2048x1536 would qualify as a retina display by Steve's criteria.
Other multiples are possible but 2x has the huge advantage of providing a nice compatibility mode for older apps.
And why would x2.5 not offer the same compatibility advantage? As long as the physical size of the screen stays the same, and the OS handles the necessary scaling, I don't see why it would HAVE to be x2.
For me, any increase in resolution is welcome. The iPad2 is an amazing device, and iOS5 will make it even more amazing, but in apps where precision is important you can't help but notice the pixels on the screen. It's a tiny bit annoying knowing the iPhone 4 has such a stunning screen.
Oh, and a Sandy Bridge MacBook Air with Lion? Count me in!
Never believed the Wednesday date for MacBook Airs. Apple never releases anything on Wednesdays.
Guess they're changing. Apple never released anything unless it was Tuesday. Then boom, Friday iPhone launches. Saturday iPad launches. Monday keynotes.
Nothing's impossible, just improbable.
BTW, After using Lion and discovering how well the iPad influence is merging in with OS X (going back to SL is like the dark ages lol) I have to think what comes after Lion will be (dare I say it...?) 'pure magic'.